Industry tackles climate change with wood, Lego-style bricks, new materials

The problem of stolen roofs in Turkey may seem like an unlikely starting point for a new way for buildings to withstand earthquakes and address the environmental problems of the construction industry, but when a Turkish businessman has heard about a new material that prevents theft, it sparked an idea. .

Cast iron is traditionally used to make manhole covers that protect drainage systems. But back in 2010, a series of thefts of scrap metal lids in Turkey meant that an alternative, with equally strong material, had to be used to secure it. And when Engin Yesil read about this super-strong composite in news reports, he wondered if it could be used to build buildings that could withstand earthquakes – a significant risk in Turkey.

Yesil started manufacturing the composite, known as Renco (short for “renewable composite”), consisting of 40% recycled materials including resin and fiberglass. Since 2011, more than 200 buildings in Turkey have been built with Renco blocks, which fit together like Lego bricks and are secured with glue.

Yesil wondered if Renco had potential in the United States, and after more than a decade of research and testing, Renco was used to build an apartment complex in Palm Springs in 2023.

In addition to being able to withstand catastrophic Category 5 hurricanes (the highest rating in the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale and a growing phenomenon due to climate change), Renco says is greener than other building materials. The construction sector is “by far” the largest emitter of greenhouse gases of any sector, according to a 2023 UN reportwhich make up 37% of global emissions.

Renco weighs about 80% less than concrete, meaning more of it can be transported by truck, and it also has 82% less embodied carbon than structural steel, according to a report from the Athena Sustainable Materials Institute commissioned by Renco. Embodied carbon refers to the emissions released during the manufacture, transport and disposal of building materials.

Renco is also 100% recyclable, according to Patrick Murphy, general manager of Renco USA. He said the new compound marks a changing step in building materials. “In construction, there’s basically three ways to build, right? You’ve got concrete, steel and wood, and that’s been the same thing for 100 years … so it’s really the fourth way of building that’s been approved,” he told CNBC by video call.

This year, Renco will begin manufacturing in the United States for the first time, with a Florida factory opening in the coming weeks that can produce enough blocks for about 9,000 average-sized apartments.

As with other materials used in construction, Renco is not without an environmental impact, with blocks currently being shipped from Turkey to the United States while the Florida factory is being completed. And, while Renco’s Turkish manufacturing plant is powered by renewable energy, about 12% of the electricity generated in Florida comes from nuclear power plants.

Building in wood rather than steel or concrete could achieve a 19% reduction in emissions, according to a 2024. degree from the University of Arkansaswhile a UN 2023 Report urged the construction industry to switch to bio-based building materials such as wood and bricks of sustainable origin to decarbonize the built environment.

“The idea that we can build from replenishable materials has become something that has become increasingly important to us,” said Andrew Waugh, founder and director of Waugh Thistleton. “And then the more you do it, the more you realize that there are health and well-being benefits, that actually people are much happier and healthier surrounded by natural materials than surrounded by polystyrene ceilings and… [wall panels]Waugh told CNBC by video call.

But the UK has been slow to adopt wood as a building material, something that is “frustrating” to Waugh. Around 60% of waste produced in the UK comes from the construction industry, according to a 2022 government reportwhile Waugh notes that construction with wood produces little waste on site. Again, building with wood is not without its environmental problems: the wood used in Waugh Thistleton’s projects is often transported from Europe.

Another phenomenon caused by climate change is the rising level of the oceans – composed of the earth sinking at the same time.

In the independent coastal state of Monaco, known as a playground for the rich because of its low taxes, a newly built “ecoquartier” called Mareterra has put sustainability at its heart. “With climate change, building on water will become a strategic approach for certain coastal areas,” according to Guy-Thomas Levy Soussan, general manager of development at Mareterra, in an email to CNBC. The development aims to be a “model” for how coastal cities can grow responsibly, added Levy Soussan.

During construction, a technique known as the “caisson” method was used, where reinforced concrete structures 27 meters high were built in the French city of Marseille and floated to Monaco so as not to disturb marine life . In addition to acting as flood barriers, they are habitats for marine organisms, said Levy Soussan.

The so-called “eco-reef villages”, have also been built. Composed of more than 300 modules, they were installed in the marine area of ​​the development. Ecological ‘corridors’ mean fish can reach villages, while a protected species of seaweed known as posidonia has been moved to provide an ecosystem. These eco-measures will be monitored for at least a decade and the Monaco government will use insights to guide future maritime projects, said Levy Soussan.

U UK Green Building Council has called on the British government to go further in its environmental targets for new homes, while in Singapore, for example, the government has added proposals to its Mandatory Energy Improvement scheme to include older buildings. Before it was focused on new buildings or those that are extensively renovated.

Murphy said the industry “will have to” reduce its emissions. “The industry has flown under the radar in many ways, right? People talk about airplanes and cars and cows, you know, a lot of other … emissions. A lot of people don’t understand how bad concrete is and how bad the built environment is.”

Incarnate carbon has been a focus for the US Environmental Protection Agency and construction company Skanska USA has developed a tool, known as EC3, to help construction projects quantify their emissions.

Steve Clem, senior vice president of project planning and sustainability at Skanska USA Building, said the tool has encouraged some suppliers to reduce their embodied carbon.

When Skanska was evaluating cement companies for a large project in Seattle, it showed each company how their materials compared to each other in terms of embodied carbon, using EC3. “When the various suppliers saw how their blends matched each other, they voluntarily took steps to improve their blends at no cost to the consumer,” Clem told CNBC by email.

The vice president is positive about the future. “The construction industry is doing more for sustainability now than at any other time in history, or at least since the industrial revolution… My hope for the future is that sustainable construction is the norm and many more people have the opportunity to live, work and play in carbon-free buildings,” said Clem.